On Wednesday, Carlo Ancelotti announced his squad for Real Madrid’s annual pre-season tour of the United States, which they embarked upon on the same day.
Ancelotti named a full-strength squad for the trip, with one notable exception: Alvaro Rodriguez. The 19-year-old was expected to be promoted to the first team this summer, following an impressive start to his senior career earlier this year.
However, as reported by Diario AS, Rodriguez has now been relegated to Raul Gonzalez’s Real Madrid Castilla squad, where he spent the majority of last season. It means that he must fight to regain his place in the first team, with only a few weeks to go until the new campaign.
Real Madrid are short on options at striker, following the departures of Karim Benzema and Mariano Diaz earlier this summer. Joselu Mato has been brought in, but he is the only natural number nine in Ancelotti’s squad.
Rodriguez had a brilliant end to last season, which has ultimately meant that he is unfavoured in Ancelotti’s eyes. The Uruguayan must now work very hard in order to re-accelerate his Real Madrid career.
